Split 2013, European Championship diary: Entry 5

Perhaps the strongest team in the tournament awaited the KIT team in the quarter-finals of the European Student Basketball Championships. The hosts from Split can recruit their players exclusively from the Croatian first and second leagues and have been preparing for this tournament for a year. Their goal is clearly to win the European Championship, after narrowly losing the final at the last European Championship.

Our boys therefore went into the game as the clear underdogs and also had to do without Alex Rüeck, who had to miss out due to a fever.
The first action in the game was spectacular with a dunk by Elnis Prasovic and our boys were even able to take a 6:2 lead with their first actions. The game remained evenly poised over the next few minutes and after 8 minutes they were suddenly 17:13 ahead against the big favorites. The surprised hosts initially found it very difficult to cope with our passionate style of play, but then got into the game a little better towards the end of the first quarter. Our best quarter of the tournament so far ended with a 21:20 lead.

Two quick threes by the home side at the start of the second quarter saw the lead change hands, but the KIT team kept fighting. Apart from the free throw percentage, the tactics devised by Uli Himstedt worked perfectly and so our players were able to keep the game open until midway through the second quarter. However, four free throws missed in succession then opened up the home side and they went in at half-time trailing 30:37.
Nevertheless: What the boys showed in the first half was first class!


At the start of the third quarter, the frenetic Croatian spectators saw an even game, although the University of Split was able to pull away more and more as the game progressed. The fact that our best man in the first half, build-up player Moritz Nägele, was unable to play due to a circulatory collapse also played into the Croatians' hands. As a result, they went into the final quarter trailing 39:58.

Moritz Nägele was also unable to play in the final period and so the soul of our game was missing in the time-honored, very stuffy and hot Split sports hall. The Croatians were now able to play to their full strength, even though our boys fought with self-sacrifice. The game ended 83:60 for the very passionate hosts, who were obviously able to withstand the high pressure of expectation.

Head Coach Uli Himstedt praised his players after the game: "Our team represented the KIT worthily today and we can leave the court with our heads held high after a great fight. Our opponents were simply too strong today."

Perhaps without bad luck, it would not only have been a close game, but even a sensation. The team will now play for fifth place and will face the winner of the Cologne-Belgrade game tomorrow evening (8:30 p.m.).